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<DIV><SPAN class=734113618-22022005>Excellent statement. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=734113618-22022005></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=734113618-22022005>Media is one of the most important checks
and balances we have on government and an open society.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=734113618-22022005></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=734113618-22022005>
<DIV><SPAN class=390433202-29012005>Elizabeth</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390433202-29012005></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=390433202-29012005>Dr. Elizabeth Carll<BR>Focal Point to
WSIS<BR>International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies;<BR>Chair, Media/ICT
Working Group,<BR>UN NGO Committee on Mental Health, New
York<BR></SPAN></DIV></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> media-admin@wsis-cs.org
[mailto:media-admin@wsis-cs.org]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Tracey
Naughton<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, February 21, 2005 3:31 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
media@wsis-cs.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> [Media Caucus] Agreed Text - WSIS 11
PrepCom 2<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><I>French translation will follow shortly.<BR><?/fontfamily></I><?fontfamily><?param Arial><BR><B>Statement to
WSIS II PrepCom 2 on behalf of the Media Caucus<BR>February 21,
2005</B><BR><BR>The members of the Media Caucus, including Northern and
Southern journalists of both the industrialized and developing worlds, have
expressed their deep concern that the texts currently under consideration for
the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society make only a
passing and ambiguous reference to the central place of the media in that
information society.<BR><BR>We hold strongly that Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights must be reaffirmed. Not only that, we concur in
the statement by African and Arab and international journalists groups in
their recent Declaration of Marrakech - held under the aegis of ORBICOM, the
international network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication, and the Kingdom of
Morocco, with the support of UNESCO -- that "The time has come to move from
the promise of Article 19 to its universal implementation."<BR><BR>We recall
that Article 19 states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference
and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, and
regardless of frontiers." <BR><BR>The member states of the United Nations are
all committed to those fine words. They must all now honour those commitments.
If they do not, then tomorrow's Information Society will prove to be an empty
shell.<BR><BR>This December's catastrophic tsunami illustrated that, to be
effective, international solidarity requires an immediate and truly free flow
of information. The same principle applies to longer term development. There
can be information without development, but there cannot be effective
development without full and free information.<BR><BR>Journalists and their
outlets in the North and the South must have the same opportunities to
transmit their news and comments. That is a large part of what overcoming the
digital divide is all about.<BR><BR>It is also important that there be no
legal bars for anyone to practice journalism freely, on or offline. Access to
publicly held information must be provided to all on an equal basis. Any
exceptions to the general rule that such information is publicly available
must be precise, narrow and clearly legitimate in the public
interest.<BR><BR>And the world of journalism must be given its rightful place
at the table to discuss the future information society. It is both bizarre and
unjust that the Working Group on Internet Governance does not number a single
journalist. Consideration of communication without communicators is like
talking about farming without consulting farmers. In the words of the
Marrakech Declaration, "Representatives of the media must be involved as full
partners in any future Internet governance system."<BR><BR>The term
"governance" must not be allowed to become a code word for government
regulation of Internet content. The system must not be reorganized to permit
this internationally nor to encourage it nationally. Any changes to the
Internet governance system should not involve controls over content, nor
modifications of the Internet's technical "architecture" that facilitate or
permit censorship of news or opinion. Nor should "self-regulation" be allowed
to become a surrogate for governmental regulation of content on the
Internet.<BR><BR>Security concerns must not serve as pretexts to limit freedom
of expression in cyberspace. Nor should considerations of "ethics" be allowed
to become a veiled way to justify censorship. To quote the Marrakech
Declaration again, "The creation of ethical norms is the sole responsibility
of media professionals themselves." <BR><BR>On a practical note, Internet
Service Providers should not be held liable for the content of the messages
they carry. The installation of filtering systems must be an individual
choice, not something imposed by authorities.<BR><BR>The determination of what
constitutes illegal content subject to punishment must be left in the hands of
independent courts administering laws that derive their legitimacy from
universally accepted norms.<BR><BR>Any alleged offense committed on the
Internet should normally be tried under the laws of and in the country where
it originated, except for very clear and well-defined special circumstances,
like explicit and credible calls for violence elsewhere.<BR><BR>Public and
private aid providers and grantors should insist that there be freedom of
expression and press freedom when they fund programs and projects to help
media and to overcome the digital divide.<BR><BR>And, finally the general
principle applied to cyberspace should be that the Internet and other new
media forms should be afforded the same freedom of expression protections as
traditional media. #<BR><BR><?/fontfamily><?fontfamily><?param Times><BR><?/fontfamily><BR>Tracey
Naughton<BR>NYAKA<BR>Communication for Development Consultant<BR>201 Somerset
hall<BR>239 Oxford Road<BR>Illovo 2196<BR>South Africa<BR><BR>landline &
fax: +27 (0) 11 880 5030<BR>cell / mobile: +27 (0) 82 821 1771<BR>email:
tracey@traceynaughton.com<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>